Noah Selwyn, 22, is a student at Community College of Philadephia. "(President) Obama came into office guns blazing wanting to do the right thing," he said. "But he's bending over too far. I've been waiting for this since 2008. A huge veil has been over our eyes."
Philadelphia, October 6 —
Jon Perez, 50, is unemployed. "I wanted to show my support and represent the black and brown community," he said. "How do you level the playing field? You have to challenge the system. I want our voices to be heard, I want to see change in the policies. We're making history. As subtle as it is, there's a movement afoot and this is how it begins."
Philadelphia, October 6 —
Victoria Long, 27, is a restaurant server. "I really think we need to work on the education system," she said. "I would like to have children one day and have those children have good lives. The banks aren't people and don't deserve rights and protection like people."
New York, October 1 —
CNN iReporter Larry Blucher, a stay-at-home dad from New York City, took this photo. "The message is pretty simple from what I see: People are just fed up with where the country is going. I saw quite a few different signs, health care, kids' future. A cross-section of America is involved, could be New York, Detroit or New Mexico. Everyone's bills are getting higher, but they're not getting paid any higher," he said. "When the mainstream media reports on these, they tend to focus on the hippies and punk rockers, but the people I photographed were all ages."
New York, October 5 —
A 50-year-old man, calling himself "Jesus" ("for today") is unemployed and homeless. He says he's "protesting against the crooks on Wall Street, the lack of prosecution of the Wall Street criminals. The American government is afraid to prosecute Wall Street tycoons, and they have stolen trillions of dollars from the American people. ... I'm living on the fringe. I feel like it's my civic duty to come down here."
Boston, October 4 —
CNN iReporter Howard I. Cannon, a computer scientist from Boston, took this photo. "The crowd seemed very orderly and the tone was nonviolent and educational. There were clearly 'hippie' types in a range of ages but also some ex-businesspeople and some who looked homeless. They mostly seem to want government money to flow to the disadvantaged and displaced rather than to the big banks and corporations," he said. "The general sense I get is that they want change in the status quo, that this group can peacefully catalyze change, and for that change to help the underclasses."
Los Angeles, October 2 —
CNN iReporter Raffe Lazarian, a photographer from Burbank, California, took this picture. "The protest seemed to begin as a show of solidarity for all of the NYC protesters. The majority of people were speaking (out) against corporate bailouts, the Iraq war and the Fed," he said. "For the most part I agree, maybe not with all of the specific issues, but the overall movement is a just and noble cause."
New York, October 5 —
CNN iReporter Aldaberto Ortiz, a former New York schoolteacher who is unemployed and living in Union City, New Jersey, took this picture: "The protesters were demanding debt relief, equal salaries for all, holding the banks accountable for the economical difficulties the people and the country were facing." he said. "There were students, war veterans, Black Bloc anarchists, hippies, punks, professionals, feminists, even tea party supporters. It was a mix representing different subcultures and political groups."
New York, October 5 —
Chilligan, 19, is a computer technician from New York. "It's in our face, it's in the air we breathe, it's everything we eat, it's every term that's coined in our society, these are problems nobody wants to face. ... It's all coming from six companies owning the major media we hear from," he said. "All these people's issues are symptoms of the disease: the centralization of power."
Chicago, October 1 —
CNN iReporter Trisha Janik, an Internet sales coordinator from Chicago, took this photo: "Being a Saturday, the area was unusually quiet as I walking down Madison Street. Out of seemingly nowhere, I heard chanting and saw a crowd making its way toward me," she said. "There were chants of 'Occupy Chi!' and 'We are the 99 percent!' "
New York, October 5 —
Jeffrey Marx, 34, is a receptionist from New York. "I spent all week reading about it, and I was inspired to come down here and talk to people," he said. "In the time I've been down here I've talked to some of the smartest people I've ever talked to, and some of the kookiest -- and I think both are necessary. I think it's a really fascinating movement."
